Summary:
Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls is the only school in its district, a K-8 charter school in Wendell, NC, serving 567 students. It operates as its own reporting district, Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls, with more than half of its students qualifying for free/reduced-price lunch (57.3%). Despite its high-need population, chronic absenteeism of 20.9% in 2024-25 came in below the state average of 24.2%.
The school has produced a dramatic one-year turnaround. After a 1-star rating in 2024-25, the school jumped to a 3-star rating in 2025-26, climbing from the 29th to the 54th percentile statewide (684th out of 1,492 schools). The most spectacular gains were in 3rd grade, where math proficiency rose from 46.3% to 82.9% (vs. 66.4% statewide) and reading jumped from 27.8% to 74.3% (vs. 55.6% statewide). Compared with state averages, reading across grades 3-8 came out 3.3 points ahead, while math trailed by 5.7 points and science by 6.4 points.
Performance differs sharply by grade level. Early elementary grades are a clear strength, but middle-grade math lags considerably; proficiency falls from 82.9% in 3rd grade to 47.6% in 4th, 46.8% in 6th, and 43.5% in 7th. Not every area improved, as 7th grade reading dropped sharply from 62.7% to 50.0% year-over-year. One important caveat: the reported student-teacher ratio of 54.5 is far outside the norm for a K-8 school and is likely a reporting error. Overall, this school shows real progress in reading and early-elementary achievement and is worth watching, though math and science in upper grades remain significant areas of focus.
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